Search of Somatic Mutations of NKX2-5 and GATA4 Genes in Chinese Patients with Sporadic Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart disease (CHD) usually occurs sporadically, with only a minority of cases associated with a known genetic mechanism. Cardiac-specific transcription factors NKX2-5 and GATA4 play key roles in the mammalian heart development, and the affected cardiac tissues of CHD patients are prone to somatic mutations which thus participate in the pathogenesis of CHD. We collected 98 patients with sporadic CHD, extracted genomic DNA from cardiac tissues and blood, and then screened NKX2-5 and GATA4 genes using PCR-direct sequence analysis. A novel heterozygous missense mutation (c.907G > A, p.V303I) of NKX2-5 gene was identified in a patient with tetralogy of Fallots. Functional assay revealed that this mutant was associated with significantly reduced transcriptional activity. In addition, we found two known single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2277923, rs3729753) in NKX2-5 and two known SNPs (rs56166237, rs3729856) in GATA4. All variations identified in cardiac tissues were consistent with those of peripheral blood, and no somatic mutations were found in cardiac tissues. Our study shows no evidence of NKX2-5 and GATA4 somatic mutations playing a role in the pathogenesis of sporadic CHD.